This invention relates to the field of wall mounted cabinets usually placed in bathrooms which usually hold medicinal items, and in particular to those which provide a separate compartment or space to store items other than medicines.
There are prior art cabinets of this type which provide separate spaces to store two different categories of materials, but none known to the inventor which are constructed to completely isolate a compartment for medicine from jewelry items in an adjacent compartment both when the door to the jewelry compartment is open as well as when closed.
Examples of prior art wall mounted cabinets in this general field which are known to the inventor include those shown and described in the following United States patents:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,776,650 discloses a wall mounted cosmetic center having a compartment for cosmetics and two doors hinged respectively on each side to open and close the cosmetics compartment, the outwardly facing side of each door having a mirror, and the inwardly side of each door having hooks and racks on which to store jewelry items. When the doors are closed, the jewelry items are in direct facing relationship with the cosmetic items or whatever else is stored in the cosmetics compartment, fully exposed to whatever vapors, fumes, airborne caustic particles, airborne toxic materials, odors and the like emanate therefrom.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,396,249 discloses an adjustable mounting support for mirrors wherein the mirrors can be manipulated into many different portions, being hinged on brackets which themselves are hinged to the doors of the cabinet. There is nothing to prevent vapors, fumes and the like from one compartment entering another compartment to contaminate whatever is stored therein since all doors can be opened at the same time.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,324,446 discloses a jewelry case having a single compartment and two doors hinged on each side respectively to open and close the compartment. The compartment provides hooks on which to hang necklace and other jewelry chains, and the inside wall of each door includes hooks for similar jewelry items as well as supports for earrings and other types of jewelry.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,023,872 discloses a bathroom cabinet having three compartments molded in a single piece, each compartment having a door, and instead of any structure to isolate the contents of one from vapors, fumes and the like from another, all three of the compartments have vertically extending spaces between their adjacent walls and the inside wall of the doors when closed. Fumes and vapors from any one can flow into both of the others.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,997,219 discloses a jewelry cabinet for placement on a table top, having a transparent swinging door the rear surface of which has shelves, the rear edge of which have vertical strips with inverted V-shaped slots from which to hang jewelry items.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,298,764 discloses a wall mounted cabinet having a single compartment, a door hinged at one side, and a drawer within the compartment in addition to one or more shelves.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,575,530 discloses a medicine cabinet having a circular or convex outer configuration, an outer door having a convex outwardly facing surface and concave inwardly facing surface, and an inner door which is flat, the concave inwardly facing surface of the outer door having a magnifying mirror, the outwardly facing surface of the inner door having a plain mirror, shelves for medicinal items behind the inner door and a lock box also behind the inner door, plus a number of other features having little or nothing to do with the features of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,254,132 discloses a medicine cabinet having a single large compartment with a door hinged at one side, shelves and drawers inside the large compartment, and a poison bottle receptacle pivotally mounted against the inner wall of the door with a lock mechanism to prevent access to the poison bottles except by a key.